Highly Sensitive Self-Powered Biomedical Applications Using Triboelectric Nanogenerator

Abstract

The triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is a promising research topic for the conversion of mechanical to electrical energy and its application in different fields. Among the various applications, self-powered bio-medical sensing application has become popular. The selection of a wide variety of materials and the simple design of devices has made it attractive for the applications of real-time self-powered healthcare sensing systems. Human activity is the source of mechanical energy which gets converted to electrical energy by TENG fitted to different body parts for the powering up of the biomedical sensing and detection systems. Among the various techniques, wearable sensing systems developed by TENG have shown their merit in the application of healthcare sensing and detection systems. Some key studies on wearable self-powered biomedical sensing systems based on TENG which have been carried out in the last seven years are summarized here. Furthermore, the key features responsible for the highly sensitive output of the self-powered sensors have been briefed. On the other hand, the challenges that need to be addressed for the commercialization of TENG-based biomedical sensors have been raised in order to develop versatile sensitive sensors, user-friendly devices, and to ensure the stability of the device over changing environments.

Biophysical Sensors Based on Triboelectric Nanogenerators

“…Since the first invention by Wang et al in 2012, sensors that are based on triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have attracted strong attention because they can dynamically monitor the physiological condition of our body and environmental stimuli with high sensitivity at the triboelectric interface while converting environmental mechanical energy into electric energy [ 1 ]. Due to the advantages of high compatibility, customization, and portability, TENG-based self-powered systems have shown great potential in the ever-growing intelligent device market, and their application is rapidly extending to various fields, including artificial intelligence [ 2 ], Internet of things, energy conversion from ocean waves [ 3 ], biomedicine [ 4 ], disability assistance, and so on, where the TENG is either a power source, a self-powered sensor, or in most cases, both [ 5 ].…”

A 0.8 V, 14.76 nVrms, Multiplexer-Based AFE for Wearable Devices Using 45 nm CMOS Techniques

“…Previous research has shown that a healthy resting heart rate should range between 50 and 70 beats per minute [21]. Electrocardiography (ECG) electrodes convert beats into voltage, which then produce extremely weak signals ranging from 0.5 mV to 5.0 mV [22].…”